Almost 1 month in BARTHELONA

If you didn't read my title, it is now September 27th, which means it's very close to my one month mark of living in Barcelona (I got here on the 1st). I've been spending the past week with my parents (in Paris and here) so I haven't really been up to much new stuff, because I've been just showing them around the parts that I know and love. I took them to Ciutat Vella, the gothic quarter, Grácia (well I didn't take them there, their airBNB is in that neighborhood), Eixample, Camp Nou, and also the neighborhood I live in (Sagrada Familia). I'm really glad my parents came to see me, although I kind of wish they had come later in the semester to break it up more, because now I have to go like three months without seeing them...

Anyways, I just wanted to write about the things I've learned/gotten used to here (since I've actually been here for a decent amount of time now), whether it's just funny stuff or serious cultural differences.

1. Prolonged eye contact is normal here. It's not weird to see someone staring at you on the metro or while you're out at dinner. Well, okay, it's weird, but it's not unusual. A lot of the time, people are just looking at you because they're curious, not because they're trying to be creepy. I just stare back at them until they look away. Assert dominance.
2. Spanish people are super cold-intolerant. If the temperature drops below 70 degrees, people are wearing scarves and jackets and jeans. And then they look at me like I'm crazy when I'm still wearing shorts.
3. Food is CHEAP here. Whenever I grocery shop for the week, I spend on average 15 euros. At home, I would probably spend $30-40 EASILY. I can get a bag of rice (like 6-7 servings) for like 0.65 euros. It's crazy! Restaurants aren't that expensive either, but I still try not to eat out too much.
4. It sounds like mostly everyone is speaking Spanish, but the signs and labels on everything are in Catalan, which makes things difficult sometimes. For example, yesterday I went to the store to get some steak for dinner, but I ended up buying veal by accident because I just got the package with a picture of a cow on it. Catalan is really different so a lot of the time I can't even figure it out with context clues (like how a lot of Latin-based languages have words in common).
5. I LOVE the Barcelona metro system. It's amazing. Trains come every 5 minutes and they are NEVER delayed, and you can get anywhere in Barcelona from your apartment in 20 minutes. There's also the Aerobus (it takes you to the airport for like 6 euros) and the Renfe system, which takes you to other places in Barcelona that the metro system doesn't reach. It's great. I'm gonna come back to the US and never want to take the DC metro.
6. I used to never give money to street performers, but I do it pretty often here. My rule of thumb is if they're good enough for me to take a short video of them, I give them money. I usually give them one euro, but sometimes two if they are really amazing. In Paris, there was this guy singing and playing guitar (he had a great voice) and he played this Pink Floyd song that Daniel and I like, so I gave him two.
7. The siesta is real... and it's a big inconvenience. Like yesterday, I wanted to finally go and buy some art supplies, but the store I wanted to go to was closed from 2:30 to 5, which is when I wanted to go. Oh well. I still went and got my precious paint, though!

I finally went to Park Guell the other day! I guess I wanted to wait so I could go with my parents. It was only 7 euros for admission and they give you a timeslot to come visit because they only allow like 300 people in the park at a time or something. That was nice because it wasn't super crowded.

Okay, no one told me that when you get off the metro (Vallcarca on the green line) you have to literally walk up a 50 degree angle hill to get to the park...

After Park Guell, we went to CAMP NOU!!!!!!! Aka the FC Barcelona stadium. I had my jersey rolled up in my bag and I was soooooo excited. I waited so long to finally see this place in person. If you don't know, I'm a huge Barça fan. It's why I even bothered to consider studying abroad in Barcelona in the first place. However, I eventually chose it because it was the most affordable in terms of living cost and I felt that the lifestyle suited me the most (I was right and wrong about that but that's another story). This is what I've been looking forward to seeing most in Barcelona. It's expensive to enter (23 euros) but I got in for 17 because of my student ID.

If you pay extra, they'll print your name for you on the back of a jersey. I don't know how much it costs but it's probably a lot because my jersey isn't custom printed and it cost me $90...

The museum was really cool.

  

I actually said "oh my god" out loud when I saw this. It's seriously amazing. It's an absolutely huge stadium (seats 99,000) and it's really quiet because it's completely empty besides you and a few other visitors. I can only imagine how loud it is on game days. I really need to get my butt to a game soon... I have tickets for one in November but that's so far away!

VIP seats, like where the club officials and sometimes family members (AKA wives/girlfriends and children) of the players sit during games

The tunnel that the players come out of before the game. I've seen this sooooo many times on TV and to actually walk through it was crazy.

The dressing room! It's quite plainer than I imagined...

Press conference room. I've also seen this place many times.

That's all the (interesting) pictures I have... and I'm falling asleep as I type this so I'm off to bed now.

PARIS!!!

I haven't posted in so long! I guess I've gotten a bit lazy with posting, but I'll make up for it with this huge post with a ton of pictures. Last weekend I was in Paris with my parents. I have no words for how amazing it was. Well, okay, I do, because obviously I'm writing about it right now. But you get what I mean. Before I went, I wasn't that excited because everyone had told me how much French people (and especially Parisians) hate Americans (even though I'm Korean...). I expected to be treated rudely and condescendingly. However, that couldn't have been more wrong. Everyone I encountered was so nice and helpful, even though the only things I could say in French were "hello", "do you speak English?", "thank you", and "goodbye" haha. If anyone is abroad right now, I HIGHLY HIGHLY HIGHLY recommend making Paris one of your destinations for a weekend trip. Even though it's expensive (thank god I went with my parents), you really can't miss it.

I skipped class on Thursday and left for the airport at around noon. I actually really dislike the Barcelona airport. The signs are really confusing and the layout is weird. The only good thing about it is that it's fairly close to Barcelona and it only costs 5,90 euros to get to the airport from either Plaça Espanya or Catalunya. 

Don't judge my book choice. It's my feel-good book and I brought it because Harry Potter was too bulky. I love Sophie Kinsella!

  

An hour and a half later, I landed at Charles de Gaulle airport. The flight was so easy and comfortable!

I took the Air France Les Cars bus into Paris. It's kind of expensive (17 euros), but I decided to just pay for it instead of being all stressed out trying to figure out public transport. It was awesome! I got right off my plane, got on the bus, and they dropped me off at the Arc de Triomph at Champs-Élysées. It was convenient for me because I was supposed to meet my parents at Cartier in that area.

I finally met up with my parents and we went to go have dinner together. We totally screwed up by eating in this area, because it was RIDICULOUSLY overpriced. I've never paid anything close to 9 euros for a coca-cola in my entire life.

Don't even ask how much my steak cost. It wasn't even a good cut, either...

We took a taxi to go see the Eiffel tower because it was like 8:52 or something and it lights up (the sparkling thing) every hour for five minutes. Surprisingly, taxis in Paris are not that expensive, especially if you're three people. Barcelona is still cheaper though.

Holy crap. When I say this is one of the most beautiful things I've ever seen, I mean it. Watching the Eiffel tower light up is just indescribable. Not even the crowd of annoying souvenir sellers can ruin the experience. My favorite Pixar movie is Ratatouille, and I love how they depict Paris in it. I thought it was a little exaggerated, but when I got here, I soon realized it wasn't an exaggeration at all. Paris really is SO beautiful and romantic.

We walked to our airBNB that night, because it's only about four blocks from the Eiffel tower. Apparently Obama ate here.

The courtyard that our airBNB was in!

Breakfast time. I love that they always have freshly squeezed orange juice instead of Tropicana or whatever.

After breakfast, we headed out to hit up as many museums as we could. The Paris museum pass is 42 euros and gives you access to all the museums, plus you skip the line. That last part didn't really matter because we didn't go during peak season, but it was still well worth the money.

First stop: Musée Rodin, dedicated to the French sculptor Auguste Rodin.

Unfortunately the main part of the museum was closed off for renovation, but we still got to see a lot of stuff.

The Thinker!

Next stop: Les Invalides! It's actually a cluster of museums in the same area.

The sarcophagus of Napoleon Bonaparte. I wish I had x-ray vision so I could see the inside. Actually... I don't think I want to know what it looks like.

It's really amazing how timeless this style of design is. My mom pointed that out, actually. I feel like more recent interior design trends come and go very quickly (I'm looking at you, IKEA), but things like this will always be universally beautiful. At least, that's how I feel. Like this is hundreds of years old, but it's still breathtaking to look at. You also have to consider the fact that it's one of a kind.

I think this was my favorite part. You can't really tell from the pictures, but the guns and swords looked so cool. They were so intricately made! No two looked the same.

There was actually a funeral procession going on while we were there, and they marched across this courtyard carrying the casket. I didn't take pictures, obviously. I'm guessing he was some sort of French war veteran, hence his service being held at Les Invalides.

I will never again complain about gas prices in the US (just kidding, of course I will)... I think it was like 6 euros a gallon? Or is it liters? I have no clue...

Chillin on the Seine.

Next stop: Musée d'Orsay!

It's actually a train station turned into a museum. It was amazing, but it was a LOT of stuff to go through. We didn't even see everything before we left.

Look familiar? I actually saw this when the Van Gogh exhibit came to the National Gallery of Art in DC, so it was the second time I've seen it in person.

This was actually a glass floor with a mini model of Paris underneath.

I love miniature models!!! One of my dream jobs is to make these. If I ever win the lottery, that's what I'm doing for a living.

It finally started to clear up once we left the museum.

We took a taxi to the St. Germain district for lunch. This was my favorite part of Paris. It was so beautiful! Everything in Paris is so aesthetically pleasing and picturesque.

Apparently this is the French version of pho... it tasted more like ramen than pho, but it was still good.

Crepe with salted butter and sugar. So good.

After lunch, we wandered around this area for a little bit.

Meat and cheese, my two favorite things.

Expensive hand made soap...

This stuff was so good. It was nougat, and I wanted to buy a bag but it was like 15,00 euro for one. 

I had these in Korea and they looked so much better there... this just looks like someone grabbed a handful of potato chips and stuck them on a stick haha

For some reason, this smelled like Korean food... it was probably because of all the chilies. I actually went out to dinner for Korean food tonight (my parents are in Barcelona now), and it was soooooooooooo good. I missed it so much!

After lunch, we went to Musée de l'Orangerie. It was the smallest out of all the museums we went to, but it was my favorite because it has the huge Monet water lilies painting. This is what I had been most looking forward to seeing in Paris, so I was pretty excited.

I wish it would turn into jacket weather here in Barcelona. It's still mid 70s every day...

More rain...

Final stop for the day: the Louvre! When I was little, I thought the glass pyramid was the entire Louvre museum. So I was always wondering how they fit everything in there. I had a lot of dumb misconceptions as a kid...

Everyone flocking to go see the Mona Lisa...

You can't tell from the picture, but the steps were all worn down from people stepping on them so much.

When you exit the Louvre, you pass by a shopping mall (of course).

I LOVE the shop displays in Paris. They're so beautiful!

We went to go see Palais Garnier, which is an opera house in Paris.

Notre-Dame Cathedral

After Notre-Dame we went to go see the Sainte-Chapelle. We were standing in line and I leaned over onto one of those metal gate things they set up for lines of people and it completely just fell over and knocked all the other ones down and everyone laughed at me. Typical.

This place was incredible. I really didn't care for stained glass, and then I saw this. You had to go up a creepy narrow spiral staircase to get up here, but it was worth it. Each of the stained glass windows depicts scenes from the bible, so no two are the same.

I bought the one of the Eiffel tower on the top row!

Back to the St. Germain district

Mmm doner kebab

Real estate ads. Paris is very, very, very expensive... I would look at these and go "Oh, that's not too bad!" And then my dad would point out that the space was literally the size of a broom closet on the outskirts of some random arrondissement.

This strawberry waffle was so good. I think they mix real blended strawberries into the batter.

From left to right: Pistachio, coffee, caramel, chocolate, vanilla, raspberry

Can you tell I love flowers?

This pharmacy is famous among Korean and Japanese tourists because they have a HUGE amount of skin care products for a good price. I think my mom and I spent about 80 euros in here. They even had a Korean employee to help explain everything.

Descriptions in Korean and Japanese

This is the only time I got to see Laduree, when it was closed at night :(

This was my favorite breakfast in Paris. Brioche with jam, toast, softboiled eggs

During the last few hours I had in Paris before I had to catch my flight back home, we went to the Jardin du Luxembourg. It was really nice out, so we got lucky!

Ponies!! I felt bad for them because they were tied up. I just wanted to set them all free to gallop around in the gardens!

For my last meal in France, I had...... pizza and pasta. It was delicious though, so no regrets.

Snapped this pic right before I got on the bus to the airport

I think the man who sat in my aisle was really annoyed at me because all I did was look out the window, thus covering it with my head and he didn't get to see anything. Oh well. This is what you get what you pay extra for a reserved seat, buddy!

My lovely souvenirs. This, and all my skin care stuff, but that's boring. I'll be coming back to Paris in December so maybe I'll get some more souvenirs then!